Miami Gets New School Chief

The Miami-Dade School Board has selected Rudy Crew as its next superintendent. Crew, who led the New York City school system in the late 1990s, replaces former Miami-Dade county manager and municipal trouble-shooter Merrett Stierheim, who is retiring.

The appointment comes at a difficult time for the nation's fourth-largest school district. In April, state lawmakers modified the appropriations formula for schools, costing Miami-Dade an estimated $12.5 million this upcoming school year alone. Meanwhile, a state oversight panel -- appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in response to tales of chronic mismanagement and wasteful spending -- is demanding fundamental changes in how the district is managed. And earlier this year an independent auditor recommended that a special prosecutor and a statewide grand jury investigate possible fraud within the district's scandal-plagued construction department.